Food Prep & Storage Area Rebuild £25,000

We are seeking funding to Build and fit out a new Food Storage and Preparation Building. The building work will be done by our existing Maintenance worker so the funding we seek is for materials, fittings that we do not already have, and specialist services like Electrician & Plumber.

Our food storage and preparation room is in urgent need of refurbishment. We receive many food donations, particularly from our local supermarket, that send end of date fruit and vegetables that give the creatures a welcome variation in their diet. In addition, we receive donations of bagged food, which we must store until they are needed. Our current facility is not rodent-proof so we suffer a significant loss of stored food to mice, along with the associated health risks to creatures, staff and volunteers. Our efforts to limit the number of rodents are always balanced by the risk that rodent control poses to the other creatures at the site. This problem also means that we cannot by staple feed stuffs in bulk and are forced buy one bag at a time to limit loses. This does not allow us to make the saving that buying in bulk would offer and means our donated money does not go as far as it could. Our current accommodation is not suitable for rodent proofing.

We currently use two small rooms that were our original hospital, when our organisation was significantly smaller, for our food storage and preparation. Our expanding size means it does not allow us enough space to store and prepare the quantity of food that we now use. This alongside the need for refurbishment and the location of the building, at the back of the site, we would like to build a new food storage and preparation building, closer to the main gate and hospital so it is more accessible for delivers and staff tending the creatures.

We intend to transfer our freezer and fridges to the new building. We will have a temperature controlled area will allow us to defrost feed safely, and to store tender products, many of which are a favourite with the creatures, like tomatoes and bananas, effectively. In cold spells we lose these.

The space made available by moving the food storage and preparation are will be converted into a, much needed, storage space for fundraising goods, and in turn the fundraising storage area into an office. Currently documents are stored in the family home and the small reception area of the hospital is used for office duties.

We have identified a site, close to the hospital, where the building would have access to sewerage and have had plans for the facility drawn up